Chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFCs) are commonly used as refrigerants and solvents with a wide variety of industrial applications. However, with the discovery of significant effect of these compounds on the ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere it would be environmentally and economically advantageous if replacements for CFCs could be found. Promising replacements for the CFCs would be compounds with very short atmospheric lifespans and absence of chlorine atoms in the compounds, the latter capable of producing free-radicals that disrupt the ozone layer.
Fluorinated oxetanes are compounds the physical properties of which appear to make them exceptionally close replacements for the halogenated CFCs R-114, R-113, and R-11. fluorinated oxetanes contain hydrogen atoms which contribute to their very short atmospheric lifespan, and they do not contain chlorine. Thus, their production and use poses no known threat to the ozone.